CLARKE: I CAN TAKE HEAT OF PLAY-OFF
plaudits for turning our fortunes around if they make history in Belgrade.
Scotland are four days away from their biggest game in more than a decade – knowing victory will seal qualification for the first time since the 1998 World Cup in France when Craig Brown was the boss.
Clarke is well aware of what’s at stake.
But he claims he’s ready to shoulder the weight of expectation.
He said: “Listen, I don’t put mysel f under any extra pressure.
“When you take the job you also take on the responsibility to put a winning team on the pitch.
“We’re unbeaten in eight games now but we’re going into another run of matches and if the run stops at eight, we don’t qualify for Euro 2020.
“It’s important for me to stay focused on the job, to make sure I get the team selection and subst itutes right on Thursday. Hopefully, I can do that and the players can produce on the park.
“People speak a lot about managers and coaches. But football is about players.
“They’re the guys who cross the white line and
have to turn everything I talk about in meeting rooms and training pitches into reality.
“If we’re good and lucky enough to be successful, there’ll be no credit coming my way.
“And if it does, I’ll be pushing it on to the players as they will be the ones who deserve it.
“I’ve never been in this position before as national team manager.
“So come game time on Thursday I will feel the weight of the expectation.
“But with the experience I’ve got and the games I’ve been involved in during my career as a player, coach and manager – and there’s been a lot of big ones – I’m sure I’ll handle the pressure.
“If I concentrate on my job and make sure the players are properly prepared, everything else takes care of itself.”